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18 November 2013

UK unemployment fell during the three months to the end of September by 48,000 compared with the same period last year.

By PRW Staff .
UK unemployment fell during the three months to the end of September by 48,000, compared with the same period last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The ONS said the number of people aged 16 and above who were unemployed amounted to 2.47 million.
The number of those in employment rose by 177,000 compared with the comparative three months in 2012, taking the number of people in work to 29.95 million.
The ONS said the percentage of people aged from 16 to 64 who were in work between July to September 2013 was 71.8%, lower than before the 2008-09 downturn; in March to May 2008 the employment rate peaked at 73.0%.
In the July to September 2013 period there were 1.46 million employees and self-employed people who were working part-time because they could not find a full-time job, the highest figure since records began in 1992, the ONS said.
Jeremy Cook, chief economist at currency brokers, World First, told the BBC: "This latest figure will hearten those who believe that the UK economy has now turned a corner. As it stands, the UK is the strongest economy in the G10 and it certainly has momentum."
Katie Evans, an economist with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), said the job figure trend might prompt the Bank of England to raise interest rates quicker than previously forecast.
The Bank said it would review interest rates when unemployment fell to 7%, and Evans argued that with the single-month unemployment rate for September falling to 7.1% “a further improvement [could] be seen in the next tranche of data.
“CEBR expects that the UK economy will continue to grow strongly next year, pushing down unemployment and justifying an interest rate rise in early 2015 – possibly sooner.”